


The Six Dancing Queens

by Maths_is_my_religion



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Also the ships aren't part of it until later, Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Multi, Other, ace!Katherine Howard, aramour, aro!Katherine Howard, banna - Freeform, i'll add more later, parrlynpercy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25821145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maths_is_my_religion/pseuds/Maths_is_my_religion
Summary: AU where the queens are all ex-dance partners of Henry. The beginning is explaining their time with Henry. It will later get into shipping goodness. The chapters are also pretty short (for now). And yes, the title is practically 'Twelve Dancing Princesses'
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr/Henry Percy, Catherine of Aragon/Jane Seymour, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount/Anne of Cleves
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. No Way

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so please be nice.
> 
> This chapter's pretty short lol, but I tried.

CHAPTER 1: No Way

Catalina only truly felt at home on the dance floor. The outside world was too difficult, too unpredictable. But here, with the familiar music and the steps she’s run through countless times, she felt safe. Secure. As long as that music was playing, she didn’t worry.

But a sharp voice cut through the soft melody, jerking her out of her state of dance-induced bliss.  
“Catherine, I need to talk to you.” Catalina sighed inwardly. Wearing her best false smile, she turned to face the young man standing in the door.  
“Hello Henry,” she addressed him. “What is so important that you interrupted my practice?”

Henry Tudor was a spoiled brat. Everyone knew it, but they didn’t dare say anything. His parents owned the Tudor Academy of Dance, and he was their top pupil. He always got the lead in shows, he always got the most solos. He was infamous for his frequent tantrums and fiery temper.

Catalina was his first partner, assigned to him after his older brother Arthur had shown no interest in dance and left to pursue a more stable career. Catalina and Henry had been dancing together since they were children, and their stage chemistry was unrivalled. They had won countless medals together, but recently, they had begun to fall apart.

The two had been friends since childhood, but their friendship was practically gone now. Once Henry showed Catalina his true colours, via a tantrum and false accusations, she realised she was in trouble. She tried her best to act like nothing had happened, but Henry’s tomato face and murderous eyes were forever burned in her memory.

As Henry grew older and evidently bored of her, he tried to get rid of her, but he did it subtly. He began calling her Catherine, and tried to trip her up in the hallways. He replaced her practice CDs with obnoxious hip hop, which he knew she hated. The only reason Catalina still stuck by him is because she needed a partner. She hated being alone. And she still saw Henry as that carefree, young, selfless boy that she knew he no longer was.

But she had hope. She had hope that one day, things would change. They would go back to how they were before. Perfect.

“I need to talk to you,” Henry’s voice startled her back to the present.  
“Let me take my shoes off first.”  
“No,” Henry said adamantly. “Now.” Catalina shrugged and turned off her music, hurriedly following Henry as he took off too fast down the halls. She recognised the route they were taking and an uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. 

When they reached their destination, she knew something bad was going to happen. People were only brought to The Office when they were in trouble. Everything she had done in the past few weeks was rushing through her mind. What had she done wrong? Why was she here? Catalina was panicking, big time.

Henry ‘courteously’ opened the door for her.  
“After you,” he said, with a slight smirk in his voice. That made Catalina doubly worried. She timidly stepped into the office, worried at what she’d find there. She expected to see the stern stares of Henry Snr. and Elizabeth boring into her skull. Instead, she saw something that she never thought she would. 

Sitting in front of the desk, making pleasant conversation with the two directors, was none other than Anne Boleyn.

Catalina gasped, but quickly silenced herself and greeted Henry’s parents. She heard the click of the door as Henry pushed past her roughly to take a seat beside Anne. He not-so-subtly laid his arm around her, smiling down at her with an expression on his face that Catalina hadn’t seen in years. 

“Ah, Catherine,” Elizabeth’s soft voice addressed her. “I’m so glad you could join us. Please sit down.” Catalina hesitantly sat on the chair, worried that Henry would pull it out from under her like he’d done so many times before.  
“I trust you know Ms. Boleyn?” Elizabeth continued. Catalina nodded.   
“Of course she does darling, they’ve been training together, remember?” Henry Snr.’s reminder was addressed to his wife, but Catalina remembered only too well when she’d first met Anne. 

Anne has transferred from Frenchy’s School of the Dance Disciplines. She had little ballet training, as she had spent most of her time in hip hop, but Henry had ‘kindly’ offered to help her. 

Catalina was horrified when she learnt that she would be training with her and Henry, in their PARTNER SESSIONS no less, but she couldn’t argue with Henry. Not if she wanted to stay there. 

So she trained Anne. She wasn’t very fond of her though, and some things were evident when Catalina first met her. The younger dancer’s carefree attitude made it clear that she wasn’t ready for the commitment that ballet posed. 

But Henry seemed smitten with her. Catalina wasn’t jealous, quite the opposite, but she wasn’t going to lose her gold medal winning partnership because of some new girl who didn’t even take her dancing seriously. She needed this partnership if she was going to go far. She wasn’t ready to be alone.

Catalina’s panic levels reached new heights that she never knew existed as Elizabeth took a deep breath, a pained expression on her face.   
“We have come to a decision,” she said. “Due to the recent strains on your relationship, and your lacklustre performances as of late, Henry and Junior decided that it is best if you…” she trailed off, making eye contact with Catalina, looking apologetic. 

“They decided that it is best if you are no longer partners.”

Catalina’s mouth fell open in shock. She was silent for what seemed like forever, until her mind was finally able to form the words on her lips.   
“P-pardon?” She stuttered out. Elizabeth looked pained, whilst Henry had his signature smirk.   
“Tell her the rest, mother!” Henry encouraged.   
“There’s more?” Catalina exclaimed. Elizabeth nodded gravely.   
“You are still welcome at this academy, and you always will be,” Catalina could sense a ‘but’

“But Ms Boleyn will be Henry’s new partner.”

Catalina clenched her fists and grit her teeth together. What came out of her mouth next surprised her. 

“No Way,”

“Excuse me?” The older Henry enquired. Catalina stood up, ready to defend herself.   
“I have known Henry for years, and we’ve been through so much together! And now you expect me to sit in silence as that- that girl who has only been dancing… what? A few months? Takes my rightful place?”

Elizabeth tried to soothe her, but Catalina wouldn’t calm down.   
“You must think that I’m crazy! You want to replace me? No way!” She spun to point at Henry, who looked terrified at her outburst. “If you thought you could leave me, you must think I’m naïve, please believe me there’s no way! I’m not letting this happen!”

“Catherine, I’m sorry, but you really should calm down,” Anne’s voice was dripping with poorly disguised sarcasm, and Catalina hated it.   
“No way!” She yelled at Anne. She was about to rip the girls throat out before she noticed Henry Senior’s murderous stare. She quickly quieted down and prepared herself for a more calm response. 

“Mr. Tudor, with all due respect, could you tell me what you think I’ve done wrong? I’ve been humble, I’ve been loyal, I’ve tried to swallow my pride all along,” she turned to Henry Junior again. “If you can just explain a single thing I’ve done to cause you pain, I’ll go.”

Catalina waited. One, two, three seconds.   
“No?”

“Maybe it’s just time for you to go, babe,” Anne piped up. It took all of Catalina’s strength not to strangle her on the spot. Henry smiled at Anne.  
“I couldn’t have put it better, my dear,”

Catalina couldn’t believe her ears. She stormed out of the office, true to her word, and slammed the door. She ran as fast as she could through the corridors, barely holding back tears. She ran to the only place she felt secure, apart from the dance floor. Curling up on the floor of her dressing room, she cried. She cried until she had no tears left, and she still cried. Her worst fear had come true. 

Catalina was alone.


	2. You Wanna Replace Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catalina is not very happy and Anne doesn't do anything to help her feel better. Maria does though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok I know there isn't much dancing yet, but there will be I promise
> 
> I'm just kinda creating the opening at the moment
> 
> And I really want to get to the juicy bit, but unfortunately I have to write H*nrat first
> 
> I'm using the Australian Cast characterisations because I can

CHAPTER 2: You Wanna Replace Me?

Catalina didn’t know how long she had been crying. She had run out of tears long ago, but she had yet to compose herself. Every time she stood up and took a breath, readying herself to face the outside world, a flood of insecurity washed over her and she crashed back to the floor.

She was terrified someone would find her like this, that they would mock her for being so emotional about something so trivial. They would tell her to get over it, and that she had so many partners to choose from, and she hated Henry anyway. But this wasn’t about having a partner. 

Catalina hated change. She clung to the things in her life that stayed constant, but she knew that nothing ever was. So she tried to force it. Even the slightest change to her daily routine made her uncomfortable. But an upset like this? Catalina didn’t know what to do. Her future was uncertain, and that scared her.

She was worried people would make fun of her for having such childish fears, and she would be humiliated in front of all her colleagues and classmates, that they would hate her, that they would…

There was a knock at the door.   
“Go away,” Catalina choked out, frantically trying to compose herself. It was probably Anne, trying to make a fool of her. She feebly tried to stand up and block the door, but it had already swung open, revealing…

“Maria!” cried Catalina in relief. Maria wasted no time in closing the door and kneeling by Catalina’s side.   
“I came as soon as I heard,” Maria panted. “Are the rumours really true? Did Henry really replace you with Anne?”

Catalina choked out a reply, that Maria took as a yes. She wrapped her arm around Catalina’s shoulders and stroked her soft, blonde-tipped hair. As Maria whispered soft encouragements in her ear, Catalina felt herself calm down ever so slightly.

Her breaths became longer and calmer, her body stopped shaking and her eyes slowly dried.   
“Thank you, Maria,”`she sighed. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.”  
“Not here, that’s for sure,” Maria joked, trying to lighten the mood. Catalina smiled softly, remembering when she’d first met Maria.

***

On her first day of dancing at Tudor Academy, Catalina had been given a tour of the school. She was shown the studios, the dressing rooms and the stage, and she had been astounded by how smoothly and perfectly it all worked. But there was one experience on that tour that she could never forget. 

Seeing the orchestra practice for the first time was magical for Catalina. The talent of the musicians had blown her away. They were so in sync, and the music was so beautiful that Catalina couldn’t keep herself from smiling the whole way through. Sure, she had heard the same song on the radio, performed by much more professional musicians, but hearing it live? She was astounded.

Catalina knew how vital the orchestra was to a beautiful performance, so she wasn’t surprised when she found herself involuntarily taking the twisting path to the rehearsal room. What she was surprised by, however, is what she found there. 

Instead of the perfect performance she had seen previously, the room was absolute chaos. The Woodwind and Brass sections were having some sort of war, aggressively tooting tunes at each other. The String section hadn’t even opened their instrument cases, they were trying to have a conversation. Surprisingly, they looked comfortable talking to each other, even with the deafening mass of noise in the room.

An older woman with short red hair was taking a nap at the piano. Catalina wondered why she hadn’t woken up, but she must be used to this chaos now. A short girl with long black hair tied back in a ponytail had hijacked an electric guitar and was recklessly playing a song Catalina had never heard before, accompanied by a tall young woman with short, curly hair strumming a well-loved bass.

But Catalina’s eyes were drawn to someone else, someone who was unceremoniously crashing out a rhythm onto the drumset like there would be no tomorrow. Her chocolate coloured hair was flying in every direction, and she had gathered quite an audience. Catalina curiously but tentatively joined the growing crowd around the drumming woman.

It wasn’t very long before Drumming Girl finished her piece with a flourish. She stood up to applause and whoops from the crowd, and took a dramatic bow, a satisfied smile on her face.

The crowd eventually dispersed, and Catalina took the opportunity to approach Drumming Girl.  
“That was a wonderful performance,” Catalina complimented her. Drumming Girl grinned again, her smile lighting up her whole face.  
“Thank you!” she paused. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. What’s your name?”  
“My name is Catalina, I’m new here.”  
“I’m Maria.”  
“It’s lovely to meet you Maria…”

***

Their friendship had only blossomed since then. Catalina smiled at the memory, wishing she could turn back the clock to relive those simpler times.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, jerking Catalina out of her head. She didn’t even have time to react before it swung open again. Catalina feebly hoped it would be another one of her friends, but alas, she was out of luck.

Anne Boleyn stood in the doorway, a triumphant smug on her face.  
“Oh hey Catherine,”   
“What are you doing in my dressing room?” Catalina growled.  
“Your dressing room?” Anne giggled forcibly. “It’s mine now babes!”

Catalina’s murderous thoughts from earlier that day returned. Why was Anne like this? Did she try to make other people plot her murder? Because if so, she was succeeding.

“I’m sorry Anne, but this is Catalina’s dressing room,” Maria piped up, sounding surprisingly calm. “It always has been.”  
“It’s the dressing room for Henry’s partner, who just so happens to be me,” Anne shot back.  
“Anne, just leave me alone,” Catalina said, panic setting in again.  
“Why?” she pestered. “Are you still sad about not being Henry’s ‘special girl’ anymore? Because let me tell you something-”   
“Shut up!” cried Maria. “We don’t care!” 

Anne chose to ignore Maria’s outburst, stepping uncomfortably close to Catalina.  
“Don’t be bitter because I’m fitter,” Catalina shrunk away, and Anne laughed. “He doesn’t want to bang you, somebody hang you!” she screeched at top volume, before dashing out of the dressing room, giggling gleefully again.

“But I don’t-” Catalina began, red with embarrassment. She cut herself off when she realised that Anne was long gone. She slammed the door with full force and curled up on the floor again. Maria rushed to her side, ready to comfort her.

But for some reason, Catalina didn’t feel scared. She didn’t worry about what was to become, and as she slowly made up her mind, she became more and more confident. She knew what she had to do.

She stood up and opened the door. Maria called out to her, wondering what she was doing, but Catalina didn’t respond. She strode down the halls with pride, purpose, finally free. When she reached her destination, she wasted no time choosing a track. She simply pressed play.

And she danced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bitchy Anne is bitchy  
> She gets better though!
> 
> Also: https://maths-is-my-religion.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> THERE WILL BE MORE DANCING LATER I PROMISE!!!


End file.
